Longdean School boccia quartet storm through to the national finals

The Longdean School boccia team have made it through to the National Schools Boccia Championship Finals after confidently seeing off all comers in the East of England U19 tournament.

Having qualified for the East of England event after excelling at the Hertfordshire County Competition, the Longdean team of Lewis Brunt, Rachel Hartley, Thomas Hartley and Jessica Stretton picked up a clean sweep of wins to reach the nationals.

They beat the reigning champions of Hertfordshire 13-1, edged out the Essex champions 5-4 and dispatched the champions of Cambridge 7-4 to march into the finals with the minimum of fuss.

The quartet now boast the title of East of England Champions and will fancy their chances of launching a strong title challenge at the national finals in Sheffield on March 6.

They will be joined at the tournament by the nine other regional champions from across the UK including the champions of Scotland and Wales.

Longdean School assistant headteacher David Lawrence said: “Reaching this level of competition is a tremendous achievement by Lewis, Rachel, Thomas and Jessica and we wish them the best of luck in the final in a month’s time.”